Ep. 69 Krish Shrikumar: Stories and Storylessness

“The universe is made of stories, not atoms.” So said poet and activist Muriel Rukeyser. And despite the science, despite the particle physics, despite the mathematical equations and the philosophy and the religion and the spirituality – or maybe inspite of all these things – I challenge anyone to prove her wrong. That’s because we can only see the universe from a human perspective – our unique and individual human perspective. And that itself, is a story. From our past to our future, to the way we interact with the world, to the way we identify as ourselves, everything about our human experience is made up of stories. But all too often, we give up authorship of these stories – our stories – to things outside of us. People. Circumstances. Fears and doubts. Cultural norms. Expectations. Trends. Fashions. Opinion. Tribes. Rather than becoming the heroes in our stories, we become 2-dimensional supporting characters, to our past, to our baggage, to other people’s stories, and stories of our own creation which don’t support or serve us, but instead keep us limited, our worlds small, and our lives out of alignment with who we really are. So what, then, if we start to become aware of our stories, and the impact they have on our reality. What f we start to take ownership of them, rewrite them in a way that serves us much better. And what do we see when we peer beneath them, at our story-less selves. Today I’m speaking with Krish Shrikumar, a games developer and return guest on the podcast. Krish is the brains behind the meditation-based video game Playne, and the new game Inward, both of which ask us to slow down, get quiet, and connect to a version of ourselves – a story of ourselves – that is less caught up in the constant hustle, bustle of modern life, in worries about the future or the past, and instead be more present and able to connect to the benefits that brings. Krish’s is developing games that build habits which result in positive impacts on our lives. This is a really great conversation, that explores how powerful and important stories are in our lives, what it means to take ownership of them, and what lies beneath them. You can find out about Playne and Inward by visiting playne.co, or you can just Google meditation game.